UC Freshman Admission – Resources


Direct from the UC Campuses


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College Admissions Guides

U.S. News & World Report, the people who invented the college ranking system, also publishes numerous college admissions articles covering typical admissions related topics such as college choices, college essays, and financial aid. Keep in mind the articles are very generalized and do not apply to all colleges. As always, take everything you read with a grain of salt and when in doubt, check directly with the college admissions office.

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College Planning Tool

College Board’s college planning website BigFuture.org, with a special focus on low-income students, provides guidance, tools and information to make college planning easier.

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College Reviews

Unlike rankings, the sites below include college ratings with student feedback (combined with, or in addition to, objective criteria/data).


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Detailed College Profiles

Check out the fancy College Navigator from the U.S. Department of Education, complete with color graphs and hard-to-find facts. Aside from the usual enrollment and financial aid stats (but in full color bar graphs and pie charts), you can also find stats for retention/graduation rate, size of enrollment for each major, team size for varsity athletics, campus crime rate, and federal student loan default rate.

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Non-UC College Options

The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), a program of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), allows students of participating western states to attend certain two- or four-year colleges and pay only 150% of the college’s regular resident tuition (instead of nonresident tuition). WICHE member states are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

To get the most accurate and up-to-date WUE admissions information (including whether the institution is still accepting applications and if financial aid/scholarships are still available), find the colleges you are interested in on the WUE institutions list and contact the admissions office to inquire (click on the institution name and then scroll down to the “WUE Contact Info”). You may need to follow special application instructions in order to qualify for WUE consideration. Some WUE colleges may honor AB 540, you will need to contact the college’s admissions office to verify.

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Gap Year

Maybe you are not ready for college or maybe your dream school didn’t accept you, but instead of sitting at home, why not take advantage of a gap year program and see the world (and enrich your discussion for your college application next year)? Check the Gap Year Association for general gap year information, gap year planner, list of GYA accredited gap year programs, list of gap year program providers, and gap year financial aid information.

You can also find additional programs through a list compiled by TeenLife. Other opportunities are available through organizations like Student Conservation Association, City Year, AmeriCorps, and Outward Bound. There are also a variety of study abroad and exchange programs available:

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